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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The water is too ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pitch — completely
  3. rash — hasty
  4. capital — money
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. staff — a stick
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. staff — employees
  9. roll — a cake
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. roll — a list
  13. rash — a series
  14. staff — employees
  15. bass — the fish
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. bass — low music
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. capital — a city
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com